Beyond Governor Ishaku’s Appeal Court Victory

Victory is sweet. Always. And a good illustration of this was the jubilation that heralded the recent judgement of the Appeal Court in Abuja on the governorship elections in Taraba State in which Justice Abdul Aboki, chairman of the five-member panel of justices, set aside the earlier ruling of the state elections tribunal, and declared Architect Darius Dickson Ishaku of the PDP as the duly elected governor of Taraba State. Indeed, when news of the Appeal Court’s decision filtered into Jalingo, the state capital, the people couldn’t hide their joy. In their numbers, residents trooped out to the streets. Amidst singing and dancing, they marched across the town in celebration. For residents of the state and close watchers of democracy, the judgement cleared every doubt concerning the validity of the election of Ishaku who was voted into office in April 2015 after defeating the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, in a keenly-contested election. Even motorists had a hectic time moving as traffic was obstructed and halted for several hours in the town as the convoy, which included women and children, moved in a victory dance around the city. The mood of the people was well-captured by Enyetere Ambituni, one of the jubilant residents, who spoke with journalists. According to him, the judiciary has once again proven itself as the last hope of the common man and had vindicated the majority of the people of the state who overwhelmingly voted for Ishaku as their governor. “We are celebrating today because the judiciary has once again shown that it is the last hope of the oppressed. The people of Taraba who overwhelmingly voted Ishaku as their governor have been vindicated,” Ambituni said. However, beyond Ambituni’s words and the excitement of jubilant residents of the state, it must be clearly understood that victory, especially in an election, also comes with great responsibilities. And this is where I believe the governor, Architect Ishaku, has his work clearly cut out for him. This is because, beyond the celebrations, people now expect him to fully settle down to work for the betterment and advancement of Taraba state which prides itself as ‘Nature’s gift to the Nation.’ Since governance is a continuum, they expect the Ishaku administration to take development to greater heights in Taraba because the coast is now clear for him to smoothly run his government. I say this because as is often the case in states where opponents of those who are declared winners in an election decide to go to court to contest the outcome, governance is often slowed down significantly. In fact, most often than not, except for payment of salaries of civil servants and public officials, there is little or no capital projects that are embarked upon. Again, Taraba, for some time now, has really not been in the news for very good reasons. A lot of Nigerians were certainly not impressed by the various contestations for power and desperation to control the machinery of governance in the state following the plane crash involving the former governor, Danbaba Suntai, and the two acting governors that came into office after him under controversial circumstances before Ishaku’s election into office in April 2015. I believe he now has the opportunity to change the dynamics and position Taraba state as a model state, not just in the North East, but in the whole of Nigeria. It’s good that Architect Ishaku himself understands the importance of the task at hand because he admitted, following the Appeal Court verdict, that the series of litigations that followed the April 2015 governorship election had slowed down the pace of development of the state “by 30 per cent.” It’s better that he has committed himself to working for the socio-economic development of the state together with his team, and even members of the opposition APC. However, I want him to always remember that journalists, the watchdogs they are, would also be keeping an eye on his government. Of course, those in opposing political camps would equally be watching and even praying for his government’s failure. Yet, he cannot afford to fail himself, or his people, or his God since he proudly talks about his faith in the Almighty God who rules in the affairs of men. Now, the tasks before Governor Ishaku, although many and daunting, are not insurmountable. Whether in the area of security, infrastructure development, expanding health services and mitigating epidemics like Lassa fever, environment, attracting investments, boosting tourism, increasing internally-generated revenue, or others, he must ensure that development is spread across the 16 local governments of the state. As a state that is blessed with abundant tourist attractions, I believe Taraba can earn fortunes from these if well-harnessed and packaged. Personally, I believe that states with amazing tourist attractions can focus efforts on attracting tourists even locally here in Nigeria rather than waiting for the monthly federal allocation which is even dwindling by the day. Many Nigerians today hardly know their country well enough. As a matter of fact, attracting local tourists from across Nigeria is one sure way to attract visitors and also boost internally generated revenue. Thankfully, the state government has made concerted efforts towards improving areas of tourist attractions like Mambilla Tourist Centre, Gumpti Park and the game reserve in Gashaka. The governor can now do so much more in further exploring the opportunities these provide including those of the mysterious rock formations at Kpambo and Marmara pond, Wukari. —Ikpechi wrote in from Abuja